NCAA Swimming Championships : Cal’s Biondi Sets Third Record; Stanford Is Champion

AUSTIN, Tex. —  Matt Biondi of California set his third American freestyle record of the week Saturday night, and Stanford rode the third individual victory by Pablo Morales to the most one-sided NCAA swimming and diving team victory in eight years.

Biondi, a sophomore, became the swimmer ever to cover the 100-yard freestyle in less than 42 seconds, stunning the all-star field with a clocking of 41.87.

“I don’t think there has ever been such a performance in the freestyles as what Matt has done here,” said Morales. “It’s unbelievable. He has put freestyle to a level it has not been before. It even got me psyched for my race.”

Morales, also a sophomore, set an American record in the 200-yard butterfly as a part of Stanford’s overwhelming team show.

“This is the highlight of my coaching career,” Stanford coach Skip Kenney said. “One thing that makes this win so exciting is that we swam exceptionally well in every phase. Nobody gave it to us.”

In addition to Morales’ victory, Stanford came up with individual titles bySean Murphy in the 200-yard backstroke (1:46.29) and John Moffet in the 200-yard breaststroke (1:55.96).

Stanford, which had expected a tough fight from host Texas and two-time defending champion Florida, rolled up 403.5 points in winning its second national title in the 63-year history of the event.

Florida finished second with 329 points, followed by Texas with 306. Next came California with 294, USC 230.5, UCLA 224, SMU 194, Alabama 179 and Auburn 121.

The 74.5-point margin of victory was the largest since USC swept to a 181-point win in 1977.

Morales became the meet’s high-point man for the second straight year, adding the 200 butterfly victory Saturday night to his previous wins in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly.

He also swam a leg on Stanford’s winning 400-yard medley relay team Thursday night.

His time of 1:42.85 Saturday night broke the American mark of 1:43.81 set by Florida’s Craig Beardsley in 1982.

Biondi faced off against Tom Jager of UCLA, Chris Cavanaugh of USC and others in the 100-yard freestyle and beat his nearest competitor by four yards--an unusually large distance for such a short race.

Although no world records are now kept in short course (25-yard) pools, Biondi’s time was the fastest ever turned in over the distance.

“I really wanted to break 42 seconds,” Biondi said. “I was surprised I swam as fast as I did in the morning (42.36), and I haven’t shaved in over a year. So I decided to shave here and see how fast I could go.

In Saturday night’s opening event, USC’s Mike O’Brien swam a 14:41.43 to beat George DiCarlo by eight seconds in the 1,650-yard freestyle.